Lions v Oz

[Jay C]

Firstly, what a great result after some heart stopping moments. Well played the Lions & thank goodness we are 1-0 up rather than behind!

As far as the ref is concerned, Phil Vickery (in his newspaper column, this morning) said the ref was not interested in a contest at the breakdown & if he could see it, then the B&I Lions mgt should have known about it & planned for it, too Having said that, we didn't get the rub of the green from the ref all game, let alone at the breakdown.....

I agree North struggled defensively at times against Folau, but I think anyone would have - and certainly other players (eg Sexton) did during the game.

If Bowe is fit, then Cuthbert should miss out next week, despite his try. If Manu &/or Roberts is fit, then Gatland has some interesting choices to make at centre.

IMO Phillips should lose his starting place to YBY next Saturday as he was awful. Heaslip/Faletau is also another close call.

The bench (bar YBY) didn't improve things when it came on either.

But, keep mostly the same team for next week with Bowe & YBY definitely coming in, please....

As regards the opposition - some awful luck with injuries, but Genia was class and the Aussies could be more dangerous next week with Folau at 15, Beale at 10 and O'Connor at 12 (or maybe even bringing in Quade Cooper ?)

[The Boy Dave]

It is about time the unions sorted out these referee's. For everyone to openly state that a referee is known for having his own style and has different interpretations of the laws compared to other referee's is a joke. I thought the Lions backed off a little because of the confusion over the referee which is just wrong. All things considered though, I thought the Lions did alright. I wasn't sure if the Lions second try included an obstruction or not. If it had been against my team I am not sure I would be totally happy about it but the decisions more than evened out in the end.
I think the Wallabies need to take a long hard look at themselves. They have so much quality it is unreal and if they don't sort their heads out before 2015 it will be a great shame.
If Wales can find a scrum half of the quality of YBY then they will be serious contenders in 2015, they have some very good players.
As always the Tigers proved themselves!

[Skin_and_Muscle]

As regards the opposition - some awful luck with injuries, but Genia was class and the Aussies could be more dangerous next week with Folau at 15, Beale at 10 and O'Connor at 12 (or maybe even bringing in Quade Cooper ?)

I think I'm right in saying I heard on sky sports news that only one Australian back is certain to miss the second test, probably Ashley-Cooper(?). That's a big blow for them but having Leali'ifano and Barnes fit would be a plus. If that's the case, I reckon Deans will go for Toomua rather than Cooper.

EDIT: Just seen the three players Deans has called in as injury cover, no Toomua or Cooper. Mogg and Tapuai brought into the backline. That'll mean Barnes and Ashley-Cooper are doubts.

[SimonP in Surrey]

I think 2nd test will be quite different .. Hopefully the breakdown will be more competitive and The Lions should use scrum and maul pressure more. Australia will be flying in attack and will for sure score tries and kick goals better .... So Lions need to up the game. Strategy of power tight then go wide is still valid but kicks need to be shorter and chased or not at all. Phillips was poor but maybe still start with him for the power threat .... Then bring on YBY at 50mins ... Dilemma in centres as its just about possible all four may be fit. JD and BOD not quite in synch yet but Manu could be rusty.

[fleabane]

Wallabies big debate - who is their best 10?

http://www.watoday.com.au/rugby-union/u ... 2oqrs.html?

Surely they need Cooper?

[MrPartridge]

Great win yesterday for the Lions... what a game of rugby.

Pollock was a shambles, particularly his refereeing of the breakdown.

I'd like to think that with all the Aussie injuries and with the likes of Bowe, Manu and Roberts allegedly fit for 2nd Test that the Lions have a great chance to win this series. Having said that, it was a narrow win given that the Aussies suffered personnel disruptions throughout the game, missed 5 kicks and would have stood more chance with Des O'Connor at 10.

Have watched the North try back a few times and it gets better and better, but equally what a player Folau is going to be...both are absolute top class...

Roll on next Saturday....

[iceman_19]

This, for me, was the perfect first Test. Most high pressure situations force attritional games that are high on physicality but low on flair. This one had both. It had head-bangingly brutal collisions and frighteningly fast feet from 2 of the best finishers currently in the game. And it had Slippy the Bush Kangeroo (sorry).

But, in seriousness, should the Wallabies have been that close? The Lions have to start being smarter with their kicks and their chase. Phillips' box-kicking was atrocious and he handed the ball back on a plate to the Aussies, which led to their second try. And it's quite clear that in order for the Lions game plan to really fire, they need a real brute of a centre in the mould of Tuilagi or Roberts. Davies is in superb form but is too good to be constrained to a crash ball role - I think there is a strong case for a Roberts/Tuilagi and Davies partnership in the next match.

My review, player ratings and highlights of Saturday's match are here: http://www.ruckedover.blogspot.com

[mol2]

Without a doubt the refereeing was appalling. Fortunately we've seen the end of that ref. There could be a case for all of the Lions home nations refusing to play matches reffed by him. There can be no place at international level for any ref to have interpretations of the breakdown laws that are so radically different to the majority.

Loose head is an issue - if Corbisiero isn't fit we may have real problems.
Vunipola - for all his dynamic work in the loose, is a novice scrummage r, seemingly struggling to stay tight enough to take the force, effectively allowing the opposition front row to take him out of the equation and thus apply all the force through the opposition hooker and tight head.

We saw this in the 6N in many of the games but only Wales had the firepower to take advantage. We saw almost the same front rows in the Tigers v Ospreys with the only differences being the loose heads - Tigers having Ayerza and Ospreys only able to play Duncan Jones from the bench the scenario was the opposite of the England Wales game.

The scrums seemed to see Australia going virtually unpunished for early engagement which didn't help.

[jgriffin]

I don't think Joubert will be any less picky, but generally is Mr Picky on both sides. The penalty count has to be Tigerised - Parling will know what is needed. YBY has to start, too!

[drc_007]

For those that are interested there is file containing the the accumulated stats for the Lions tour compiled by a generous Rugby follower.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4bHkmy ... pnUnM/edit

I downloaded it and did a little analysis, since the players have all played different amounts of time I've tried to normalise the stats by dividing the number of tackles etc by the number of minutes played. I've picked out a couple of talking points.

Top tacklers
Tom Youngs
Mako Vunipola
Geoff Parling
Tom Croft
Justin Tipuric

Turnovers Won
Paul O'Connell
Justin Tipuric
Sean O'Brien
Tom Croft
Owen Farrell

Turnovers Conceded (Backs)
Christian Wade
Owen Farrell
Simon Zebo
Shane Williams
Conor Murray
Jamie Roberts

Turnovers Conceded (Forwards)
Toby Faletau
Sean O'Brien
Rory Best
Geoff Parling
James Heaslip

Metres Carried (Backs)
George North
Simon Zebo
Sean Maitland
Alex Cuthbert
Leigh Halfpenny

Metres Carried (Forwards)
James Heaslip
Toby Faletau
Tom Croft
Sean O'Brien
Mako Vunipola

Top Try scorers
Alex Cuthbert
Jonathan Davies
Leigh Halfpenny
George North
Brian O'Driscoll
Mike Phillips
Tom Croft
Jonathan Sexton

[jgriffin]

The trope about Crofty being too detached at the breakdown - despite it being the props at fault for not guarding, and Phillips for being a brainless dork - is circulating amongst the media, agitating for Lydiate.
There has been considerable briefing from the Welsh camp, constantly favouring their men. We have discovered this time that YBY is by far a better SH than Phillips, Cuthbert is Wade-lite without the defensive ability and Hibberd is a flake.

[El Guapo]

Dividing the stats showing the number of tackles etc by the number of minutes played, gives a skewed result when the time played is relatively small. A player could come on as a sub, play his socks off for 20 minutes, turn ball over, tackle everything that moves etc - but when he has to play for 80 minutes he's rubbish!

[BJ.]

A little something to make you smile (unless you're an Aussie, that is!)

Accident claim

[PJ_BECKS]

Rumours: Vunipola, Parling, Lydiate, B. Youngs and Bowe to start with O'Brien on the bench.

[TomWeston]

Loose head is an issue - if Corbisiero isn't fit we may have real problems.
Vunipola - for all his dynamic work in the loose, is a novice scrummage r, seemingly struggling to stay tight enough to take the force, effectively allowing the opposition front row to take him out of the equation and thus apply all the force through the opposition hooker and tight head.

Spot on!
Poor Dan Cole being accused of having a bad game but he seemed to hold his side of the scrum and it was Mako who got pushed around to give the Roos a put-in. That's how I read Greenwood's comment here-

"In the scrums, the area where the Lions were supposed to mangle them, the Australians lost a couple badly but hung on in there and in the end had worked out how to crab and wobble this sturdy platform."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... cenes.html

The scrums seemed to see Australia going virtually unpunished for early engagement which didn't help.

And the Roos are playing games about this, too!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... feree.html